The Ivory Leaks Blood On a yearly basis, billions of dollars are made from the illegal killing of elephants, the gathering of their ivory tusks, and the trafficking of the ivory on the black markets throughout the global community for monetary gain and to support wars and acts of terrorism. According to an articles written in National Geographic magazine in September 2015, “. . . 30,000 African elephants are slaughtered every year—more than 100,000 between 2009 and 2012—and the pace of killing [these creatures] is not slowing [down]. Most of this illegal ivory goes to China where a pair of ivory chopsticks can bring more than a thousand dollars and carved tusks sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars” (Christy 37). Recently, investigators have been able to gather undisputable evidence that the illegally gotten ivory’s finances are being used to fund terrorism and the war efforts of the Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army, (LRA). Kony’s poachers not only sell the tusks for monetary gain but also trade the tusks to the armed forces of other poorer, unorganized, struggling military units in other third world countries. They have formed an ivory-terrorism connection—not only with countries like China but also with governments throughout Africa and the global community—and traded the illegal ivory “. . . with counties like the Sudanese military for salt, sugar and arms (47). Moreover, Kony is not the only terrorist who uses monies procured from the sale of illegal ivory on the global black markets. According to Tristan McConnell, many believe “. . . Al Qaeda’s East African branch, the Shabab, uses ivory sales to fund deadly attacks like the one on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in 2013 and that Boka Haram, Islamic State’s West African affiliate, is partly underwritten with [blood] ivory. According to another source in the California based non-profit Elephant Action League, it has been estimated the Shabab gets approximately “. . . 40% or its [monies] from blood ivory . . . which is equivalent to a monthly income between $200,000 and $600,000 (qtd. in McConnell). This constant flow of funds from the sale of illegal ivory makes it look as if there are no international monitoring devices in place to control the poaching and selling of this ill-gotten ivory. This ivory, according to Bryan Christy, “. . .is [also] one of the means being used to forge links between the LRA, Al Shabab, ISIS, Sudan’s murderous Janjaweed and other terrorist groups (qtd. in Kahumbu and Halliday).Moreover, the sale of this blood ivory is not only about its illegal sale, terrorism, or wars ranging throughout the world, but it is also about the elephant. According to Carl Safina, “Africa has lost 90% of its elephants in the last half century: Sierra Leone [has witnessed] its final elephants being killed in 2009; Senegal [has] less than a dozen elephants left; Gabon has seen 80% [11,000] elephants killed in the last decade; the Democratic Republic of the Cong.

1. The Ivory Leaks Blood
On a yearly basis, billions of dollars are made from the illegal
killing of elephants, the gathering of their ivory tusks, and the
trafficking of the ivory on the black markets throughout the
global community for monetary gain and to support wars and
acts of terrorism. According to an articles written in National
Geographic magazine in September 2015, “. . . 30,000 African
elephants are slaughtered every year—more than 100,000
between 2009 and 2012—and the pace of killing [these
creatures] is not slowing [down]. Most of this illegal ivory goes
to China where a pair of ivory chopsticks can bring more than a
thousand dollars and carved tusks sell for hundreds of thousands
of dollars” (Christy 37). Recently, investigators have been able
to gather undisputable evidence that the illegally gotten ivory’s
finances are being used to fund terrorism and the war efforts of
the Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance
Army, (LRA). Kony’s poachers not only sell the tusks for
monetary gain but also trade the tusks to the armed forces of
other poorer, unorganized, struggling military units in other
third world countries. They have formed an ivory-terrorism
connection—not only with countries like China but also with
governments throughout Africa and the global community—and
traded the illegal ivory “. . . with counties like the Sudanese
military for salt, sugar and arms (47). Moreover, Kony is not
the only terrorist who uses monies procured from the sale of
illegal ivory on the global black markets. According to Tristan
McConnell, many believe “. . . Al Qaeda’s East African branch,
the Shabab, uses ivory sales to fund deadly attacks like the one
on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in 2013 and that Boka Haram,
Islamic State’s West African affiliate, is partly underwritten
with [blood] ivory. According to another source in the
California based non-profit Elephant Action League, it has been
estimated the Shabab gets approximately “. . . 40% or its
[monies] from blood ivory . . . which is equivalent to a monthly

2. income between $200,000 and $600,000 (qtd. in McConnell).
This constant flow of funds from the sale of illegal ivory makes
it look as if there are no international monitoring devices in
place to control the poaching and selling of this ill-gotten ivory.
This ivory, according to Bryan Christy, “.
. .is [also] one of the means being used to forge links between
the LRA, Al Shabab, ISIS, Sudan’s murderous Janjaweed and
other terrorist groups (qtd. in Kahumbu and
Halliday).Moreover, the sale of this blood ivory is not only
about its illegal sale, terrorism, or wars ranging throughout the
world, but it is also about the elephant. According to Carl
Safina, “Africa has lost 90% of its elephants in the last half
century: Sierra Leone [has witnessed] its final elephants being
killed in 2009; Senegal [has] less than a dozen elephants left;
Gabon has seen 80% [11,000] elephants killed in the last
decade; the Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen 90% of
its elephants killed. None of these animals have been saved and
very little of the illegal ivory has been confiscated. Many
people have become outraged that no other alternative exists for
dealing with these poachers and war mongers who are killing
the elephants at such an alarming rate. According to Carl
Safina’s article entitled “Blood Ivory,” the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which
regulates ivory trading, has had a system in place since 1975,
but that system has become ineffective since it has no
restraining effect and facilitates easy laundering of the stolen
tusks. According to CITES’s website, to become more effective
at regulating the big business of wildlife crime, CITE has
formed two new tools to help with the monitoring—Monitoring
Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) and Elephant Trade
Information System (ETIS)—but with these checks and
balances, poachers are still getting onto the ranges and killing
the elephants for their tusks. One can only wonder if CITE,
MIKE, and ETIS, the agencies that are responsible for
combating these terrorists, are qualified to combat these crimes,
but CITES has at least tried according to its recorded minutes at

3. its meeting in 2012; however, Mary Rice states that CITES is
now advocating “. . . a legal trade in ivory as a way to protect
elephants in the wild.” While this suggestion may look great on
paper, dealing with corrupt leaders and the greed that are now
part of the terror-ivory trade can be dangerous and take time
that the elephants do not have; therefore, new alternatives must
be advanced if the poaching of the elephants, the human
degradation and murder, and the illegal buying and selling of
these tusks are to be properly dealt with in the local community
since trying to regulate the market has not worked. Therefore,
CITES and all